December 9, 2015
Nancy E. O’Malley
Alameda County District Attorney’s Office
1225 Fallon Street, Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612
Dear Ms. O’Malley,
My name is Brice Hamack and I am the Northern California Civil Rights Coordinator for the Council
on American-Islamic Relations, California Chapter. I write today regarding a disturbing battery caught
on camera on December 6, 2015 at Lake Chabot in Castro Valley, California.
In summary, Mr. Rasheed Albeshari, an American Muslim, was with friends who, after praying at
Lake Chabot, were approached by a woman, Ms. Denise Slader. Ms. Slader verbally berated Mr.
Albeshari and his colleagues with insults targeting his Islamic religious beliefs. After a short while
Mr. Albeshari pulled out his cell phone to record Ms. Slader’s behavior. At that time a park ranger
approached and attempted to intervene. In the cell phone video, as Mr. Albeshari attempts to explain
to the ranger what was happening, Ms. Slader can be seen grabbing her umbrella with her left hand
from her right hand, raising it out to the left of her body while quickly approaching Mr. Albeshari, and
then striking Mr. Albeshari using her umbrella as a weapon. Ms. Slader also took the cup of coffee in
her right hand and threw it onto him.
In the days following the incident Ms. Slader has made several statements. In an audio recorded
statement to KNTV while discussing the incident, Ms. Slader states, “this religion is just very
dangerous, this is very vicious, this is a vicious thing this Muslim thing.”1 In a video recorded
statement to KTVU while discussing the incident, Ms. Slader states, “I'm a Christian, and so I wanted
to tell them that . . . what they were doing what they believe in, their Allah that he was praying to right
there in the park openly you know is not of God it is of the devil.”2
Based on Mr. Albeshari’s cell phone video, and Ms. Slader’s subsequent admissions, we request your
office file charges on behalf of the People of California against Ms. Slader for misdemeanor battery
with a hate crime enhancement under California Penal Code sections 242/243(a) and 422.7, as well as
a standalone hate crime under California Penal Code section 422.6(a). Ms. Slader’s statements both
before and after her battery of Mr. Albeshari evidence her intent to intimidate and interfere with his
rights and privileges to peacefully and freely practice his religion as secured to him by both the
California and United States constitutions, due to her perceiving him to be a Muslim.
1
Lisa Fernandez and Jodi Hernandez, Women Throws Coffee, Umbrella at Muslim Men Who Had Been Praying at Castro
Valley’s Lake Chabot, NBC BAY AREA, December 9, 2015, http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Woman-ThrowsCoffee-Umbrella-at-Muslim-Men-Praying-Lake-Chabot-361290071.html.
2
Woman could face charges after alleged attack on praying Muslims, KTVU Fox 2, December 9, 2015,
http://www.ktvu.com/news/56662657-story.
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Filing hate crime charges in this case is especially important due to the hostile climate that many in the
American Muslim community are currently facing. Over the past few weeks our Northern California
offices, and our offices across the country, have received a drastic increase in the number and nature of
hate incident reports. Some examples include:
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A woman being targeted by a driver in a department store parking lot and almost being run
over due to her wearing hijab, the Islamic headscarf.
A woman coming back to her car after grocery shopping and finding a note on her windshield
reading: “FUCK YOU ASSHOLES GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY!! FUCKING
KILLERS!!”
Multiple reports of women who wear hijab out in public with their children and being subjected
to verbal insults, vulgar gestures, and even being accosted in public spaces by persons
confronting them about their religious beliefs.
An 8-year-old girl being called a “killer” by an 8-year-old classmate whose parents told the
student in question to stay away from the girl because her and her parents were “a family of
killers.”
In these challenging times we look to our local elected officials and community leaders to stand up for
us and utilize the law to protect us against the hate and violence that inevitably results from this
climate, and as such we ask you to take the first step by holding Ms. Slader fully accountable and
sending a message that such behavior will not be tolerated in Alameda County.
If you have any questions or wish to discuss this matter further please feel free to reach out to me at
any time. My phone number is (408) 986-9874 and my email address is [email protected].
Sincerely,
Brice Hamack, Esq.
Northern California Civil Rights Coordinator, CAIR California
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